| Nepalese royal massacre | |
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 The Narayanhity Royal Palace, former home of the Royal Family. Since Nepal was declared a federal republic, the building and its property are being turned into a museum. |
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| Location | Narayanhity Royal Palace, Kathmandu, Nepal |
| Date | June 1, 2001 about 21 hrs (UTC+5:45) |
| Target | The Nepalese Royal Family King Birendra of Nepal |
| Attack type | Fratricide, patricide, sororicide, regicide, matricide, avunculicide, mass murder, murder-suicide, massacre |
| Death(s) | 10 (including the perpetrator) |
| Injured | 5 |
| Perpetrator(s) | Crown Prince Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah |
The Nepalese royal massacre occurred on Friday, June 1, 2001, at the Narayanhity Royal Palace, then the residence of the Nepalese monarchy, when Crown Prince Dipendra allegedly shot and killed several members of his family. As a result of the shooting, ten people died and five were wounded. The dead included King Birendra of Nepal and Queen Aiswarya, Dipendra's father and mother. Prince Dipendra became de jure King of Nepal upon his father's death and died whilst in a coma for three days after the fact.
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According to reports, Dipendra had been drinking heavily and had "misbehaved" with a guest, which resulted in his father, King Birendra, telling his son to leave the party. The drunken Dipendra was taken to his room by his brother Prince Nirajan and cousin Prince Paras.[1]
One hour later, Dipendra returned to the party armed with an MP5K and an M16 and fired a single shot into the ceiling before turning the gun on his father, King Birendra. Seconds later, Dipendra shot one of his aunts. He then shot his uncle Dhirendra in the chest at point-blank range when he tried to stop Dipendra.[1] During the shooting, Prince Paras suffered slight injuries and managed to save at least three royals, including two children, by pulling a sofa over them.[1]
During the attack, Dipendra darted in and out of the room firing shots each time. His mother, Queen Aishwarya, who came into the room when the first shots were fired, left quickly, looking for help.[2]
Dipendra's mother Aishwarya and his brother Nirajan confronted him in the garden of the palace, where they were both shot dead. Dipendra then proceeded to a small bridge over a stream running through the palace, where he shot himself.[1]
Some people in Nepal suspected that Gyanendra was responsible for the royal palace massacre on June 1, 2001, and that he had blamed Dipendra so that he could assume the throne himself.[3] Gyanendra, not as popular in the country as his son Paras, had been third in line to the throne before the massacre. He was out of town (in Pokhara) during the massacre and was the closest surviving relative of the king. Gyanendra's wife and son were in the room at the royal palace during the massacre. While his son escaped with slight injuries,[4] his wife was injured during the incident.[5]
Feeding the rumor is the allegation that Dipendra was mortally wounded by a gunshot to the left side of the head, while Dipendra was right-handed. Some believe that this casts doubt on whether the injury was self-inflicted.[6][7]
Despite the fact that two survivors have publicly confirmed that Dipendra was doing the shooting, as was documented in a BBC documentary,[2] many Nepali people still consider it a mystery. Recently, a book was published in Nepal named Raktakunda recounting the massacre.[8] It looks at the incident through the eyes of one of the surviving witnesses, Queen Mother Ratna's personal maid, identified in the book as Shanta. The book, which the author says is a "historical novel", posits that two men masked as Crown Prince Dipendra fired the shots that led to the massacre. Shanta's husband, Trilochan Acharya, also a royal palace employee, was killed along with 10 royal family members, including the entire family of King Birendra. In addition to details of the royal massacre, Shanta alleged many other cover-ups by the royal family, including a claim that then-King Mahendra committed suicide.
Dipendra was proclaimed King while in a coma, but he died on June 4, 2001, after a three-day reign.[9] Gyanendra was then appointed regent.
While Dipendra lived, Gyanendra maintained that the deaths were the result of an "accident". However, he later said that he made this claim due to "legal and constitutional hurdles", since under the constitution, and by tradition, Dipendra could not have been charged with murder had he survived.[10] A full investigation took place, and Crown Prince Dipendra was found to be responsible for the killing. Numerous conspiracy theories suggest an alternate conclusion, but there is little evidence to support them.
The widely circulated rumors is that Prince Dipendra was angry over a marriage dispute.[11] Dipendra's choice of bride was Devyani Rana, daughter of Pashupati SJB Rana, a member of the Rana clan, against whom the Shah dynasty have a historic animosity.[citation needed] The Rana clan had served as the hereditary prime ministers of Nepal until 1951, with the title Maharaja, and the two clans have a long history of inter-marriages.[citation needed]
A two-man committee comprising Keshav Prasad Upadhaya, the then-Supreme Court Chief Justice, and Taranath Ranabhat, the then-Speaker of the House of Representatives, carried out the week-long investigation into the massacre.[12] The investigation concluded, after interviewing more than a hundred people including eyewitnesses and palace officials, guards and staff, that Dipendra had carried out the massacre.[13]Large numbers of critics and Nepalese both inside Nepal and abroad disputed the official report because many evidence and facts reported by the then investigation team seems to be in contradiction in many forms. A close aide of the then prince Dipendra said," He can give up the throne for the sake of his love, but he can never do this kind of thing."[citation needed]
The massacre was said to have been prophesied by Buddhi Maya Lama also known as Aama Bombo (Nepalese for Mother Shaman). Aama is a well-known female Shaman, Seer and healer working in Kathmandu. Aama claims to have had worked with all members of the Nepalese royal family, 'working a great deal with the late king'.[14]
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